IFSPT is a world-wide Federation, recognised as a subgroup of the World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT), representing national organizations of Sports Physiotherapy. The efforts of IFSPT are directed towards Member Organizations and their individual members in serving athletes of all ages and abilities through excellence in education, research, practice, and clinical specialisation. The intention of the IFSPT is to be the international resource for Sports Physical Therapists all over the world.

Hello, and welcome to another edition of the IFSPT newsletter. In this issue we have a focus on Disability Sport in Turkey. I met Nevin while she was working with the Turkey Paralympic Team in the London 2012 Paralympics. Some of the work they are doing is really interesting and they are making positive changes despite many challenges that PT's in other countries will find all too familiar.

In the last few months I have met PT's across a few countries. In

IFSPT President Nicola Phillips and Professor Nevin Ergun.

November I visited Switzerland and Israel, in December I met some of the SPTS members in Las Vegas, then last month I met a group of sports PT's in Qatar. The range of skills and typical ways of working across differing environments is quite wide, as you might expect - but the commitment to providing best practice for athletes treated is consistent and the enthusiasm within our profession is great to see.

To try to help harness that enthusiasm, we are almost ready to roll out our registration system, so that PT's who have followed a recognised specialist in their country can be recognised internationally. We just need to design the certificate! Similarly we have set criteria ready to launch our CPD short course recognition programme so that organisations and member countries can apply for IFSPT recognition for their courses, which can be indicated on the attendance certificates for participants. Watch out on the new style website as this develops.Our General Meeting will be in South Africa in September this year. This is the first time we will have held our GM outside Europe and is a sure sign that we are becoming a truly global professional group. We recently sent out an email to all our member countries representatives to canvass opinions on exact dates and venues around the South Africa Sports Physiotherapy Conference being held at that time. We are really looking forward to working with the conference organisers and will send out information via twitter/Facebook and Linkedin pages, as well as our website once we have the finalised dates. I hope that many PT's will consider travelling to the event as it promises to be exciting!

I hope you enjoy the newsletter this time - and don't forget, if you have been working with an interesting group of athletes or travelled somewhere for an event. If you think it might be of interest to members, just send it in. This newsletter is for you and we want it to be informal and informative.

Sir Ludwig Guttman was the first to organize various sporting activities for disabled people in 1945 at the The Stoke Mandeville Hospital for Rehabilitation.

The principles of sports physiotherapy in Turkey commenced with my thesis "Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation of Soft Tissue Injuries of Sportsmen"completed in 1978-1981 at Hacettepe University School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation.

In 1983, the "General Directorate of Youth and Sports" helped the recognition of the sports physiotherapist and also played a large role in finding positions as sports physiotherapists in organizations such as Federation Medical Committees and Sports Medical Centers.

In 1997, a post-graduate education system was implemented within Sport Physiotherapy Turkey to maintain a high standard of professional care at Hacettepe University. Currently, thirteen masters degrees and five doctoral theses have been completed, and another eight masters and five doctoral theses are ongoing.

Once the "Sports Federation for Disabled" was founded, the sports PT participated in disabled sports teams and classifications. Special training is provided for working in disabled sports as a sports physiotherapist. Physiotherapists must have knowledge for prothesis, orthesis and assistant devices. Specialized medical personnel, called classifiers, perform classification assessment. They are evaluating the athletes with various procedures and tests based on their functional ability to perform skills required by the sport. In 1992, sports PTs participated as lecturers and members of the medical team of National Olympic Committee.

Today, physiotherapists take part in every sports branch, and organizations such as Mediterranean games, European and World finals, and Olympic and Paralympic games. The Football Association of Turkey has also granted PT certifications for working with the football clubs.

The first Sports Federation For The Disabled was established in Turkey in 1990 and participated at four disabled events in 2000...visually-impaired, physically disabled, hearing-impaired, and mental impaired. The Sports Federation For The Disabled is a member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) on the International level. Since then, sports for the disabled have gained awareness worldwide.

The Turkish Wheelchair Basketball team.

Turkish Sports Federation For The Physically Disabled (TSFPD) began self-management in 2006. TSFPD is a unique foundation which supports the physically disable sportsmen in Turkey. We have 117 sports clubs and 3,797 (3,274 Male; 523 Female) handicapped athletes exist under the Federation. Major leagues Wheelchair Basketball is the largest league in Europe.

Thirteen of the 19 sports branches determined by the International Paralympic Committee are conducted by Turkey. The Turkish Paralympic Committee was founded in 2002.

Only one athlete represented Turkey in swimming at the 1992 Barcelona and 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games. Eight athletes participated in the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games in Athletics, Shooting, Powerlifting, Table Tennis, Archery, and Swimming. Gold and bronze medals were won by the Turkish team in Shooting.

Sixteen Turkish athletes joined the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in Athletics, Shooting, Powerlifting, Table Tennis, Archery, Para-Table Tennis, Wheelchair Tennis, and Judo for the visually impaired. Gold medal in archery field and bronze medal in para-table tennis field were won.

Graduated from Hacettepe University,School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation in 1975. She completed her M.Sc in sports injury rehabilitation from the Hacettepe health Sciences Instıtute in 1981. She did Ph.D in Sports injuries, Physiology and Physical Therapy from Hacettepe University in 1986. She became the full time professor in 1996.

Nevin ERGUN is a Fellow of American College of Sports Medicine. Founding Member of International Federation of Sports Physiotherapists/IFSP, President of Turkish Association of Sports Physiotherapists, Vice President of Turkish Sports Federation for The Physically Disabled, Chairman of Medical Committee Turkish Paralympic Committee. Executive Board Member of Turkish Doping Control Center, and Founder member & Director of Hacettepe University HÜSYAM Research and Implementa

Professor Ergun works with an athlete at the London Paralympics.

tion Center for Activity and Healthier Life for Community research center. Founder member of The Disabled Sports Support and Education Foundation Turkey (TESYEV); International Wheelchair Basketball Federation(IWBF) Gold Level International Classifier; IWBF Development Commission Member (Women);Medical Committee Member of the Turkish Football Federation.

She is the Head of the Sports Medicine Unit and Academic Coordinator of post-graduate sports physiotherapy Msc & Ph.D programs at Hacettepe University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation.

The American Physical Therapy Association held its annual Combined Sections Meeting January 21-24 in San Diego, CA. Over 10,000 attendees participated in this event. The Sports Physical Therapy Section (SPTS) presented an exciting lineup of programming and special events for the conference.

SPTS presented or co-presented twenty programs during the course. Information about the courses presented may be found at this link. The SPTS Golf SIG sponsored its second annual charity golf outing on Monday, January 21, in conjunction with CSM. Fifty-two participants played in the tournament, raising funds for the American Lake Veterans Golf Course and the Foundation for Physical Therapy. Titling sponsor Cosamin ASU stepped forward to help partner with SPTS for the tournament, along with the Private Practice Section, beverage cart sponsor, Analgesic, gold sponsor and BMS, silver sponsor. Generous donators provided many prizes for participants.

On January 22, the SPTS membership gathered to review the accomplishments of the past year, and to celebrate the accomplishments of their fellow members. Thirty-eight members were honored in the Indigo Ballroom of the Hilton Bayfront Hotel in San Diego, including Allen Hardin, who was presented with the Ronald G. Peyton Award, named for the first SPTS president.

January 23 was celebrated in style at the 40th anniversary gala event at the Ultimate Skybox, overlooking the San Diego Padres major league baseball park and the harbor and skyline of San Diego. Each of the past presidents were honored during a roast, following cocktails, music and an elegant dinner.

Dr Janet Bultitude (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, St Anne's College, University of Oxford) Changes in cortical signalling and body representation in patients with chronic regional pain syndrome, and how this may trigger (rather than result from) pain and other symptoms

Cape Town, South AfricaThe IFSPT General Meeting will be held on September 2, 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa. The AGM event will run just after the South African Sports Medicine Congress, which we hope many of the delegates will attend. Watch for more information!

The LeukoTape Sport Physiotherapy Congress

South Africa

The 3rd Biannual Sport Physiotherapy Congress will be held on the 30th of August and the 1st of September 2013. The congress will be held at the St. Georges Hotel in Centurion, Gauteng. Registration will open in February 2013; registration forms will be available from the SPG website.

HAVE YOU CONSIDERED YOUR PD PLANS?

If you want to know about new moves in physiotherapy, put APA Conference 2013 'New Moves' Melbourne, 17-20 October into your diary.

This much anticipated event will provide you with premium learning updates across 14 disciplinary areas in one location and on consecutive days.

Don't miss prominent Australian and international researchers and clinicians presenting the latest scientific research and developments, and clinical practice knowledge.

The conference is organized by the University of Salzburg (Department of Sports Science and Kinesiology), Physio Austria (Sports Physiotherapy Group) and spt-education (Institute for Continuing Education Sports Physiotherapy), and will be held at Unipark Nonntal.

As an additional event, the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy (IFSPT) will present its work and objectives.

The scientific programme features a range of internationally renowned speakers who will present their research on the conference's main topic, Core Stability. For the first time in the conference's history, a Young Researcher Award will be awarded to young scientists with particular research merits.

Las Vegas, Nevada, USAThe Sports Physical Therapy Section of the APTA will hold its annual Team Concept Conference on December 5-7, 2013, at the Green Valley Ranch Resort just outside Las Vegas, Nevada. More information to come, but mark your calendar!

Attention Member Organizations:

Are you sponsoring a physical therapy, sports physical therapy or sports medicine conference in 2013?

Please send the information regarding your conference to Mary Wilkinson, IFSPT marketing director, for addition to the IFSPT newsletter and website! Newsletters are published every other month, so please submit your material as early as possible. You are also welcome to provide updates as your event draws closer!

Based on the success of the 1st and 2nd World Congresses on Sports Injury Prevention in Oslo in 2005 and Troms in 2008, and their successor, the IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport in 2011, the next IOC World Conference will be held in Monaco 30 April through 3 May 2014.

The IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport will follow the model of the previous editions, with a multidisciplinary perspective on sports injury prevention for different sports and different injury types, including studies on intervention methods, epidemiology, risk factors and injury mechanisms. Also, as in 2011, the scope of the congress has been expanded from sports injury prevention, to also include the prevention of other health problems associated with sports participation.

The three-day programme will include four or five keynote lectures, about 20-25 symposia, 15-20 workshops, in addition to free communications and posters. Please note that, at this time, we are asking only for proposals for keynote lectures, symposia and workshops not abstracts for free communications. The deadline for submission of abstracts for free communications and posters will be 1 January 2014.

Please reply to Cherine Fahmy at info@ioc-preventionconference.org.

Note that although the congress committee will cover the cost of accommodation and social events for invited speakers, we will not be able to reimburse travel costs, since we plan to invite a considerable number of international speakers to be able to feature a first-class programme. We encourage you to visit the congress web site at www.ioc-preventionconference.org, where more information will be posted over the next few months.

Monaco is situated on the most beautiful coast in Europe, built on a rock between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea. Its mild climate, easy access, excellent hotels and security are the principal qualities which make Monaco a prestigious destination for an unforgettable event. Furthermore, the Grimaldi Forum, a state-of-the-art conference centre for the 3rd millennium, daringly built out over the sea with a total area of 35.000 m2, is the perfect location to receive a high standard congress such as the IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport.

The WCPT Congress is the largest international gathering of physical therapists. Bringing together clinicians, educators, researchers, managers and policy makers, it is truly where the world of physical therapy meets. So we are delighted that the next congress will be in Singapore, a vibrant cosmopolitan destination for a vibrant cosmopolitan profession.

The congress promises a high quality programme along with a major international trade exhibition and plenty of opportunities for networking. Physical therapists in Singapore are extending a very warm welcome to their international colleagues. The last congress in Amsterdam saw over 5,000 physical therapists participating. Help us make this event even more of a success.

Regular issues of Congress Update will give you all the information you need to know:

We invite you to actively participate in the growth and development of your journal. The Editorial Board is looking for your very best in quality research, clinical commentaries, systematic reviews of the literature, case reports, and clinical suggestions. Guidelines for submission for each category of submission are available on the IJSPT web site. By publishing in the International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, you'll not only share knowledge with your colleagues, but you'll also contribute to raising the level of professionalism in the practice of Sports Physical Therapy worldwide. Try out the new online submission system.

Increased vertical ground reaction forces (vGRF) during landing are theorized to increase ACL injury risk in female athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine if heel height alters vGRFs when landing from a forward hop or drop landing. The authors concluded that the addition of a 24mm heel lift to the bottom of a sneaker significantly alters peak vGRF upon landing from a unilateral forward hop but not from a jumping maneuver.

Cryotherapy is commonly used in physical therapy with many known benefits; however several investigations have reported decreased functional performance following therapeutic application thereof. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of cryotherapy applied to the ankle on static and dynamic standing balance. No statistically significant differences (and low effect sizes) in static balance indices were found between the post-cryotherapy and the control conditions. Dynamic medial-lateral (ML) indices significantly increased following the cryotherapy application. No differences were noted between experimental and control conditions for the dynamic anterior-posterior (AP) or overall balance indices while a small effect size was noted for both. Overall, the results suggest that cryotherapy to the ankle has a negative effect on the ML component of dynamic balance following ice water immersion. Therefore, immediate return to play following cryotherapy application is cautioned given the decreased dynamic ML balance and potential for increased injury risk.

The ligament sprain of the lateral ankle is the most frequent injury that occurs when participating in sports. Whole body vibration (WBV) is a training method that has been recently introduced as a rehabilitative tool for treatment of athletes. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a 6 week WBV training program on the reflex response mechanism of the peroneus longus (PL), peroneus brevis (PB), and anterior tibialis (AT) muscles in ankle inversion at 30 degrees from horizontal, in a static position. After 6 weeks of WBV training, there were no significant changes in the reflex response times among the muscles tested.

The purpose of this descriptive repeated measures study was to compare the acute effects of two passive stretches on pectoralis minor length and scapular kinematics among a group of collegiate swimmers. The gross shoulder stretch program had a significant increase in pectoralis minor length as compared to a focal stretch and a control group. Overall results revealed no acute improvements of scapular upward rotation, external rotation, or posterior tilt of the scapula after the application of either passive stretch maneuver performed on the pectoralis minor muscle.

In the past, studies that have aimed to compare different strategies to improve functional capacity have produced controversial results. Furthermore, such studies have focused solely on dependent individuals. In contrast, the present study aimed to compare traditional training to functional training for independent individuals. The purpose was to compare traditional training to functional training in healthy and independent middle-aged adults and elderly subjects. When the entire sample was considered, no differences in improvement existed between the two training protocols. However, when the specific groups were analyzed, functional training was less effective for women compared to men and compared to women in the conventional group. Therefore, some individuals may require additional basic training before practicing more specific training protocols.

The purpose of this study was to develop consensus on the critical constructs necessary for inclusion in a physical performance assessment checklist (PPAC) that could be used to assess an athlete's readiness to return to sport following a lower extremity injury. The study used 3-rounds of Delphi methodology to finalize the PPAC originally developed by a panel of experts. Throughout the 3-rounds, 10 initial constructs were modified and revised to produce the finalized PPAC consisting of 12 constructs necessary to consider an athlete's readiness to return to sport after a lower extremity injury. This instrument can be used as a checklist to advocate for prospective batteries of physical performance tests that incorporate the elements identified by this study.

Comprehensive arthroscopic management (CAM) is a new glenohumeral debridement procedure developed as a joint preserving alternative to total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). The procedure consists of several arthroscopic components. This case report focuses upon an active, middle-aged patient who failed physical therapy treatment and corticosteroid injections for glenohumeral osteoarthritis. The patient was not an ideal candidate for TSA because of her age, activity level, and concern for implant survival; therefore surgical intervention was performed using the CAM procedure. Details concerning the rehabilitation protocol are outlined as well as patient outcomes. For patients less than 55 years of age diagnosed with severe glenohumeral osteoarthritis, the CAM procedure and intensive, motion focused therapy present a promising treatment combination.

Dynamic neuromuscular (core) stability is necessary for optimal athletic performance and is not achieved purely by adequate strength of abdominals, spinal extensors, gluteals or any other musculature; rather, core stabilization is accomplished through precise coordination of these muscles and intra-abdominal pressure regulation by the nervous system. Understanding developmental kinesiology provides a framework to appreciate regional interdependence and the interlinking of the skeleton, joints, musculature during movement and the importance of training both the dynamic and stabilizing function of muscles in the kinetic chain. The Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) approach provides functional tools to assess and activate the intrinsic spinal stabilizers in order to optimize the movement system for both prehabiliation and rehabilitation of athletic injuries as well as performance enhancement.

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is a well-described condition resulting from compression of the brachial plexus, subclavian artery, and/or vein. Though symptoms of pain, numbness, tingling and signs of muscular weakness associated with this condition usually begin insidiously, on rare occasions the presentation is of acute onset and may represent an acute vascular compression. An unusual form of "effort" thrombosis of the subclavian vein may require emergency care in order to ensure controlled clot lysis and thrombus dissolution. This case report presents a competitive swimmer who developed an acute onset of limb cyanosis during training.

The acute anterior dislocation of the glenohumeral joint (GHJ) poses a challenge to sports medicine providers at all levels and in all settings. Quick and effective relocation of the GHJ is an important skill for on the sideline or on the field management of this type of dislocation when appropriate and allowable by facility protocol. This clinical suggestion describes one possible technique for athlete self-reduction that may be appropriate in some circumstances.